Where I’ve Been:
When I came into BLine several years ago, I had been trading reversals, with mixed success. Of course, I was aware of the common “knowledge” that trading with the trend was the best way to trading success, and to trade against it was a recipe for a short trading career. So, I embraced the trend following approach. I spent the next 18 months or so focusing on MOFs with and without HD, slings, multiple TFs lining up, etc. And while the pullback trades always looked great that night (after the fact), I seemed to be in the ones that didn’t work out way more than those that did (and of course, few of those are ever posted). It certainly wasn’t for a lack of time and effort, but I was simply failing to become consistently profitable. To make matters worse, I still had this deep seeded urge to trade reversals (its just in my nature), and if I couldn’t trade “with trend” trades (supposedly the best road to success), how in the world could I expect to trade reversals??
Where I’m At:
Well, the answers came when GoingLite started posting his charts again. Believe me, I was a bit skeptical at first of how he could supposedly “pick” nearly all the good turns, and I was one who actually had an inclination in this direction! One thing I did pick up on right away was the retest entry method he uses. Having used price action entries forever (buy stops and sell stops above/below prior bar), I could remember the myriad of times that price would seem to pullback JUST after my entry stop had been triggered. It took a bit of practice to start thinking of entering “way up there” on tops, with price actually coming AT me, not going in the direction of the trade. So much for confirmation! But, the change has been a major part of what has gotten me to where Im at. The other thing that has been critical is to no longer trade pullbacks! I now trade strictly turns. It didn’t take me long to realize that setups for turns tend to be pretty repetitive, and they are pretty basic. Pullbacks, on the other hand, have an ability to manifest themselves in amazingly varied forms, and they are simply much more difficult to time (for me at least)!
I must point out that I’ve not gotten here alone! Buffy, Jerry W., and most importantly, Going have helped me a great deal. Going and I think enough alike, yet with different slants, that we seem to mesh pretty well together in our trading approaches. I’ve gleaned a lot from him in our trading relationship ( I only hope he’s gotten at least an inkling back). J
How I Trade:
As mentioned, I trade only turns. I trade this way everyday, trending days
as well as non trending days. I have about 3 ½ to 4 hours a day to trade,
although some days not even that much. I work in addition to trading.
As a move (trend) progresses, I tend to increase size slightly with my setups.
I feel my odds strengthen as time passes. I’m just a small trader, trading
1 to (maybe) 5 contracts, depending upon the setup and the extent of the move.
I get stopped out like everybody else, and have a number of scratches. I pay
no real attention to my win loss ratio for trades during the day, but what
I pay a GREAT deal of attention to is having a WINNING DAY versus a losing
one. If I can leave with more than I came with, then I’m happy. Some
days I certainly don’t leave with much, but hopefully I leave with something.
To give you an idea of how things have changed, let me give you a brief overview
of my past 22 days of trading (one months worth).
First, I had 21 out of 22 winning days (not bad a “contra-trend” trader)
J
My losing day was just slightly more than my average winning day (all 22 days
counted).
Without getting into specifics, I’ll just say that my returns were above
mid four figures. While this pales versus many other traders, it’s a
big change from past results!!! For the first time, I now know that I can consistently
take money from the market. The amount is not important as this can be varied
by sizing, targeting, time available, as well as market conditions. I find
the “knowledge” of HOW to be much more important than How Much.
Given that I trade part-time, and “contra-trend”………… I’m quite pleased.
The point of all this is to show what can happen when we forget all the so
called “general wisdom” and test these things for ourselves. A
wise trader once told me that if you trade as the masses do, you will reap
what the masses reap. If its true that 90% + of traders fail, then I certainly
don’t want to trade as they do! Another thing that has helped is thinking
differently. I saw a quote the other day that is so fitting:
“Discovery is seeing what everyone else sees, but thinking what no one
else thinks”. Many of the things contained on my template are “trend
oriented”, I simply use them much differently to aid my timing for turns.
As I look only for implications of timing turns, I see what everyone else sees,
but I think differently about their usage. This has been a big help!
In closing, I can only hope that anyone who may take the time to read this takes it in the spirit in which it is offered. Others helped me by opening my eyes, hopefully this can do the same for someone else. If I can help someone to change their perspective and the way they approach trading, then this has been a success. I would consider this a much better offering than simply providing a template, one which they don’t fully understand as it will not reflect THEIR nature, inclinations, preferences, etc.
Ninja
Ninja has a folder in chart archives to further explain his method of trading the turns - tests, 2Bs, O/U, U/O and others.
This is a link to another article by Ninja
www.dacharts_dachart_dacharts_dachart.org/archives/Ninja/repeating_setups.htm
The following is a link to various templates Ninja has contributed as he traveled
the road to success
www.dacharts_dachart_dacharts_dachart.org/archives/Templates%20and%20Charts/Ninja/
Congratulations Ninja on finding what works for you and making your own “trading
cocktail”!
Buffy